Review: Sony Xperia J

Despite the resemblance, the Sony Xperia J does not match up to the performance of its bigger brother, the Xperia T.

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Am I the only one who finds the letter classifications of Sony's Xperia range of smartphones a little confusing?

When I was handed the Xperia J to review, I nearly took it swimming with me, thinking it was the brand's much-hyped waterproof handset (that's the Xperia Z, by the way). Good thing I did a little research beforehand, as I learnt the Xperia J would not respond well to being submerged in water, nor did it accompany the dashing Daniel Craig in his stealth missions in the latest James Bond flick.

What it is, according to Sony, is a lower-mid-range smartphone with an "eye-catching design and stand-out screen size for consumers looking to combine great style with affordability".

As one would expect from a lower-mid-range category handset, the Xperia J is predominantly plastic but doesn't feel flimsy at all. In fact, the smartphone's curved back makes single-handed use a pleasure. At 124.3x61.2x9.2mm and 124g, it can be slipped into a bag or pocket without even noticing it.

The Xperia J features an earpiece, front-facing VGA camera and status LED lights at the top, and capacitive Back, Home and Menu keys and a secondary LED light at the bottom. This LED glows different colours depending on the Theme setting and type of notification, be it a social media update or an e-mail. The Lock/Power key and volume rocker are on the right side of the device. These are a little small and difficult to press, making waking the smartphone up a chore at times.

The Xperia J runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), with an upgrade to Android 4.1 (Jellybean) on the cards. If I had to classify the Xperia J's performance in one word, that word would be 'sluggish'. If I had to use another word to describe my experience of the user interface, that word would be 'laggy' (I know that is not a word, but you get where I'm going here).

If you try to do anything too quickly on the Xperia J, it just doesn't keep up, be it typing a message or scrolling between home screens. This can be attributed to the device's 1GHz single-core processor and 512MB of RAM. Despite its mediocre performance, the interface is intuitive, especially for those who have used other Android devices in the past.

The earpiece works just fine, but I did notice that the microphone picked up a lot of background noise.

According to Sony, the Xperia range offers slim-form smartphones with an emphasis on display for excellent viewing. In the case of the Xperia J, the four-inch, 480x854-pixel FWVGA display is one of the device's redeeming features. With a pixel density of 245ppi, colours look punchy and vibrant. Nothing is too bright or too dull, and one is easily able to use the device in broad daylight. One downside is the omission of an ambient light sensor, meaning users have to adjust the display manually should the light level change drastically.

The handset houses 4GB of flash memory, about half of which is used by the operating system, making a microSD card an absolute must. Although the smartphone does feature a microSD slot, supporting up to 32GB, users will have to pay a little extra for this, as one is not included.

Out of the box, the smartphone has Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Gmail apps preloaded. It is a social media addict's dream with various widgets facilitating the aggregation of social media feeds into a single stream. This keeps users up to date with what their friends and followers have been up to. Apps can be moved around depending on preference or frequency of use.

The phone also boasts an SMS counter, which keeps track of the number of SMS messages sent. Perhaps Sony thought this kind of tracker would be relevant for smartphone users with limited budgets? I guess it could be handy for the handful of people on the planet who still send SMSes to each other.

I was very impressed with the Walkman-brandedmusic player and the TrackID app. Using the music player, one can Google song lyrics, search for music videos on YouTube and even learn more about a band or artist with a direct link to Wikipedia. This is complemented by TrackID, a music recognition app that identifies the music playing around you. I tested the app and it worked remarkably well.

The Xperia J supports WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth and GPS connectivity. The standard browser works well, but Chrome comes preloaded should users prefer a Google browser.

If taking great images is what you are looking for, then I'm afraid the Sony Xperia J may not be the handset for you. The 5MP rear camera boasts 4x digital zoom. There is also a front-facing VGA camera. The photos are adequate at best and often come out blurry unless taken up close or in very favourable lighting conditions. I also found the colours a little off and there seemed to be a slight delay after pushing the capture button, so don't try to snap any pictures in a hurry.

Although the smartphone has Sony's Sweep Panorama feature (something I really enjoyed on other Xperia handsets), on the Xperia J, the poor resolution and noisy images fail to do these wide-angled images any justice. And capturing video isn't much better, as users have to wait for the device to focus before filming, and should they move the camera around at all, the result is rather fuzzy.

The Xperia J is powered by a 1.750mAh battery, which is impressive. The handset will easily last beyond the working day, even with heavy use, and light users can enjoy several days' use with little problem.

The Xperia J may not be Mr Bond's gadget of choice, but it reminds me of agent 007. It appears sleek and attractive, but below the surface lie a multitude of sins. That said, it does deliver on all of Sony's promises - the screen is great, the design is appealing, and at just under R4 000, it is an affordable option for consumers looking for a smartphone on a limited budget.